MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — After an extended period of dry weather, wide spread rain has finally returned across the Mountain State.

MetroNews AccuWeather meteorologist Chad Merrill said from 8 a.m. Tuesday to Thursday morning, rainfall totals have been adding up across the region. The rain has been heavy at times but has also included some of the light soaking variety as well.

“Petersburg has had close to 3 inches, Huntington has had close to 3 inches, and once you get farther east into West Virginia, we’ve had anywhere from 2.5 inches in Morgantown to just under a half-inch in Charleston,” Merrill said.

On MetroNews “Talkline,” State Agriculture Commissioner Kent Leonhardt said the farmers need any rainfall, but a nice steady rain would be the preference. Leonhardt would say the drought, which set in around July of 2024, has never really eased for the farming community.

“I’m hoping the rain we’re getting now is going to lessen the severity of the drought,” Leonhardt said. “We started with a very heavy wet spring, which helped recharge a little bit from last year, but we were never completely out of last year’s drought.”

Merrill said the rainfall deficits across the state range from 2 inches in some areas to as much as 5 inches in others due to the scattered nature of storm activity this summer. Over the next ten days another low-pressure system will influence the area, and this one could be fortified with tropical moisture, according to Merrill.

“There’s another low-pressure system that will stall out over parts of the central and southern Appalachians, and that could team up with some tropical moisture,” Merrill said.

The data for the drought monitor is collected from Tuesday to Tuesday, so the most recent heavy rainfall won’t be included in the U.S. Drought Monitor report. The report set to be released next Thursday will include the added rainfall, but Merrill isn’t sure it will make a big impact statewide.

“We will likely see the drought severity chip away across the central part of the state and the eastern panhandle, but I don’t think it will be completely removed when we see the update come through next week,” Merrill said.

The next system could bring up to 2 inches of rain over the next week—still a little more than what the typical farmer would want in a week, but more drought relief nonetheless.

“Some of the slow, steady rain we’ve had has been very good, but the heavy downpours run off very quickly and don’t do as much good,” Leonhardt said.